In 1860 in B.C., there was plenty of work for a wainwright, prospector or a quarryman. A hundred years later, sod farmers, stenographers and "product testers" filled the payroll sheets.
What else were British Columbians doing for money in those years? WorkSafeBC has compiled a list of typical occupations in each decade of B.C.'s history since 1850, as part of Line of Work, an installation at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.
Here are some of The Tyee's favourites:
1880: Engine driver, wreckmaster, stoker, crimper, boilermaker, schoolmarm, gang knife, ash cleaner, shunter, section gang, stock breeder, journeyman, can maker, tinsmith, brakeman, fish boss, slimer, filler.
1930: Extension ranger, courier, training officer, station manager, repairman, projectionist, rag cutter, entomologist, tile setter, box bander, liquor maker, musician, copy editor, street sweeper, fruit picker, finisher, pruner, scientific illustrator, well driller, sheeter, powerhouse mechanic, harvest hand, statistician, field operator, labour organizer, conveyor cleaner, health inspector, journalist.
1980: Data processor, forklift operator, casino dealer, trash collector, sales agent, hardware engineer, long haul driver, computer programmer, jumbo drill operator, cad draftsperson, advertising artist, internal auditor, office manager, concrete finisher, executive assistant, real-estate agent, seasonal worker, regional manager, casting agent, leasing coordinator, speech therapist, talkshow host, securities analyst, flight attendant, labour consultant, travel agent, forest technician, snowmobile assembler, chore hand, ski-list operator, videographer, art critic, immigration agent, instrument engineer, fitness instructor, computer saw tender, gaffer, electric arc welder.
The entire list can be found here.
Robyn Smith reports for The Tyee.
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zalm
37 weeks ago
2030
Investment banker; public relations officer - political office; advertising executive; Friedmanite economist; long-distance truck driver; stockbroker;
This could get fun....
Fiat lux
37 weeks ago
The whole system is built
The whole system is built around the plan to "create" (how I hate this word, but what's the alternative ?) incompetence and total reliance on the power elite/ruling sector, with people herded like animals.
Exactly the same system used by the Soviets and satellites through the collectivization of the economy and
"jobs", instead of encouraging the development of individual talents for the benefit of the persons and humanity.
Children are now not even taught to write, forcing them to depend totally on the system ????????
Like a little boy was saying in the news last night, it saves him from having to sharpen pencils.
They can't write, but they can text.
The funniest part is that this criminal racket is called "individualism" just as the Soviets called theirs "freedom" and "democracy".
Ed Deak.
cw
37 weeks ago
Whatever happened to ...
Whatever happened to 'find a human need, fill it and you've got yourself a job'?
Norman
37 weeks ago
Alaskan cedar!
I love that the project, a showcase of B.C. labour and industry history, uses "laminated Alaskan cedar" Why not mahogany or okoumé?
I hope they employed Canadian designers when creating it and Canadian labourers when installing it.